Topic: FIFA World Cup 2026 :Canada/Mexico/United States: Discussion Thread - page 107. (Read 62863 times)

Physical fitness is important for him if he wants to play in next world cup with as he is currently doing most chances he will be available for the next world cup because right now he is 36 and when we will have next world cup he could be 39 which mean still he will be able to perform but again if he has no injury or any issue which prevent him from playing soccer.

Now their next target is Copa América which is coming and as we read now tension with coach Scaloni is ended which is also good news for the team and Argentinian fans because this will bring good booster for them and presence of Messi will also give them good confidence hopefully all will be good for them in coming years, and they will be able to play their best in next world cup which is going to play with new format in three countries.

op you are right if messi is not physically fit he should retire from 2026 world cup if he can't play well. And if he is physically fit he can perform well then surely he can play 2026 World Cup. We all believe that having Messi in the team is equal to three new players. If he can perform well, even now, Messi has performed well. If we have seen the games in the 2026 World Cup qualifiers, we can understand that Messi is performing very well so far. So we don't know officially whether Messi will play the 2026 World Cup. If Messi plays the 2026 World Cup, it is very positive for the Argentina team.

Yeah, I don't think Messi is still in his prime.

I don't even know if he will be playing in the next world cup to be honest.

Maybe he does end up playing, but I think it would make more sense to give the opportunity to the next generation, as he can retire now as the world champion.

Messi is a key factor in Argentina success in the 2022 edition of the World Cup. As he is still in his prime, it is unlikely that Argentina will be able to defend the trophy in the next edition without Messi. The Inter Miami star age factor is a big question mark, whether Messi will be fit and ready to play when he is 38 years old, I personally doubt that. Unless Messi plays in a more competitive league to maintain his skills and fitness until he is 38 years old. That is the real challenge and fact that all fans must accept, even though we understand that without Messi the appeal of the World Cup decreases, as does Ronaldo.

I am sure that the upcoming 2026 World Cup will bring out other favorite teams, and so will new young talents. The atmosphere will also be very different from before, and most of the players competing in the Qatar World Cup will no longer play for their national teams. Talking about favorite teams, I think teams from Europe will dominate, such as Portugal, Germany, France, Spain, England, and there are several more. Argentina and Brazil, as usual, are the favorite teams in every edition, and host powers such as America, Canada and Mexico are also worth considering. But what is clear is that the journey is still very far away, because currently the World Cup is still in the qualifying stage, Brazil itself is experiencing difficulties, but I am sure they will qualify.

Here are the FIFA rankings that were last updated in December 2023: https://www.fifa.com/fifa-world-ranking/men

Possibility for Lionel Messi will play in World Cup 2026 depend on his condition first injury or not but he has on the top level performance although playing with less competitive league such as MLS. No doubt with Lionel Messi contribution for Argentina winning FIFA World Cup 2022 trophy in Qatar but I think don't blame with Argentina manager Lionel Scaloni. Still not any update progress with internal conflict between Lionel Messi and Argentina manager Lionel Scaloni and waiting about his position defend or not.
Actually playing with Inter Miami in MLS League not get huge pressure and not participants in many competition such as European teams, seems Lionel Messi will be ready for World Cup 2026 if  his physical fit and not get injury.

You are right Messi's amazing performance in Qatar World Cup Argentina team course every player including Scaloni has done great to become champion in 2022. There is no official information yet on whether Messi will play in the 2026 World Cup, but it is expected that Messi can play in the 2026 World Cup. And if the 2026 World Cup participates, it will definitely be very positive for the Argentina team. Because Messi is current and performing well even though he is getting older day by day but the performance of his game is that he is playing well everywhere. So it is expected that if Messi is physically fit then he will play in 2026 World Cup and if he is not physically fit then he will not play.

Argentina won 2022 Qatar World Cup mainly because of Messi. He was the decisive factor which made the dream of the argentinian nation become true. But for 2026 it's another story... We don't know yet if Messi is going to play, and even if he does, he will be older and his performance is expected to decrease by there. And without him it's not likely the argentinian national team can win the World Cup. Actually, the soccer industry claims for a new generation of titans, as the current ones are already getting old and retiring themselves from the fields.

A good coach is important, but it's not a decisive factor, anyway. The next World Cup seems to be a very unpredictable one. There are opportunities for every national teams to rise up and impress the world with their skills. Even a stable team without any specific stars can shine, because the old titans aren't the same anymore.

Yeah, Argentina is clearly one of the favorites as they are the current champion.

But, I think that maybe Uruguay or Brazil will surprise everyone in the next world cup.

If Scaloni is indeed in the Argentina national team for the 2026 World Cup, then this news is very good news for the Argentina team. We all saw that Messi won the World Cup for the first time under the leadership of Scaloni in the 2022 World Cup and fixed the relationship with Scaloni. If the 2026 World Cup is played under the leadership of Scaloni, the Argentina team will definitely do much better. The way the current Argentina team is performing is really admirable if Scaloni is with their team, it is expected that the Argentina team will do much better in the 2026 World Cup.

I think changing coaches is not an easy task. Moreover, it is a national team where each country has different playing characteristics. Scaloni really understands Argentina and that has been proven by winning the 2022 world cup. But my question is, will Scaloni remain the same? After the conflict with some of Argentina's top brass I think there will be little change for Scaloni. We don't know what really happened but I hope Scaloni will remain professional and this will not interfere with his ability to coach Argentina.

This is news coming from Argentina because getting a good coach these days is very difficult. The post by Lionel Scaloni that he might not continue with the Argentine national team came as a shock because everyone thought he was happy with the team. But a dig into the team unveiled various challenging situations such as a frosty relationship between the coach and Chiqui Tapia. There was a report that the problem between them also has a political undertone.

There was also a report that the coach was not happy with the influence of Lionel Messi in the dressing room. An example was that Scolari was not pleased that Messi who is the captain told the players to leave the pitch after the violent conflict between Brazilian police and Argentine fans without his permission. He felt that Messi would have consulted with him and other technical staff before instructing the players to make such a decision. But it's great to hear that the world cup winning coach will be leading Argentine in the 2024 Copa América
Scaloni in June this year.

Without any doubt good news for the Argentinian soccer and fans as well because currently they can't afford to lost Scaloni which is doing impressive job, and recently they won World Cup now they can go through for the more trophies and better results because Scaloni is one of the best coaches and his strategy and leadership bring Argentina to new level with Copa América is coming, and then we will go through for the next world cup preparations as now we are also having new coach for the Brazil hopefully South American soccer will be improved and things will be also allowed again we will have this rivalry at his best.

Argentinian new generation of players are also needed coach like Scaloni which give them his best for the staying at the top and keep Messi legacy at his high for few more years.

I have feeling you are not having any knowledge of ground realities with Brazil are surely going to qualify even currently they are not good but still they are capable of doing things like these easily it's matter of time for them with now new coach is already announced and surely in coming weeks we will have good improvement most of the time things gone on wrong way, but they fixed this all quickly.

Currently, they are having problems just who is going to lead from front with their main player is having injuries issue, and they need a star who can give them better things and in presence of many youngsters now this is also going to be settled which will be give them good results in 2026 world cup, and we will have again samba at his best.

The good news for Argentina is about their coach and it seems Scaloni is going to stay in the team because there was a meeting between Chiqui Tapia and the coach of Argentina, Scaloni while we heard there is a bad relationship between Scaloni and him but after this meeting, there's more chance for Scaloni to stay in Argentina. Now Argentina is again has more chance to shine in the 2026 World Cup.

Please stop talking this shit of BRazil man, are you not into the world of football? how many times i need to say Brazil its not at risk ? Man is so fucking easy this qualyfiers in CONMEBOL, you have only 3 teams out of everything and BRazil is gonna end into the first 3/4 positions , no chance of other thing happen. Stop talking shit.

Brazil qualifying is currently not very certain because they have lost much more than they have won the advantage of the number of teams that are to qualify from the CONMEBOL is their advantage, if they were to consider outside this then their chances will be very small, going through history of the world cup Brazil have qualifed for almost all the world cup and the arrival of a new coach which will be faces with this first task of qualifying for the world cup will be a reason their will be improvements in the team and their chances will again be more because he wouldn't want to fail at his first task.

Brazil, Argentina and Uruguay are the teams with a fairly good squad with good dept amongst their rivals amongst all the CONMEBOL teams .

I would say "best" is a bit of a stretch, they are historically a great football nation there is no doubt about that, but I would give France the credit for having the best team if you ask me, feels like they are doing as well as people hoped they would do as well, one world cup and one world cups final with a last minute save, they could had two in a row if they got that shot.

All in all I am guessing that we are talking about Brazil, of course they are better than what they have done so far and I think it should be important to consider this as something that would benefit. I am not saying it is going to be easy, but it is not going to be all that easy, we need to figure out something else. Brazil with a new manager should do better hopefully, if not, that's a big issue.

Yes, Brazil is the only team in the world to have been present at all the World Cups


Regarding the coach, Fernando Diniz is no longer the coach, he was sacked a few days ago
The CBF has already announced the new coach who is Dorival JR, I know most people don't know him, but he's a good coach, he won the 2023 Brazil Cup with São Paulo
Take a look here: https://www.fifa.com/fifaplus/en/tournaments/mens/worldcup/canadamexicousa2026/articles/dorival-junior-new-brazil-selecao-coach-cbf

Brazil can finally concentrate on preparing for the 2024 Copa America and then the 2026 World Cup
After the competition, the Brazilian team should return to winning ways in qualifiers

Coaching the national team requires an intelligent coach who can really understand the potential and characteristics of the football playing style of the national team being coached. I think this is a little different to coaching a club where you are free to develop the tactics you want and the club board will provide you with the support with the players you need. But in the national team you need to know the characteristics of a national team's game or use tactics that can benefit key players. It's like if a country like Brazil calls up star players like Neymar and Vini, then the coach must also be smart at seeing other players who can complement the playing style of key players to perfect game tactics. Just like the Spanish coach who had to be able to combine several players to then perfect tiki-taka. I think that is a challenge for a national team coach. CMIIW

It seems that they have never failed to qualify for the main round of the World Cup and also agree that this time they will not fail to qualify again, it's just that their not-so-good performance has raised concerns that they will fail but that worry will be answered soon when the qualifiers are held soon, and whether their new coach will be able to show something different to lift Brazil and improve its position in the current standings.
What is quite curious is that after Carlo Ancelotti will not coach Brazil, who will coach Brazil because we know that their current interim coach, Fernando Diniz, will only be there for a year before the CBF appoints a permanent coach, and there are still no rumors about the names of those who will become permanent coaches for the Brazilian national team and of course he must be someone who has very good experience and it would be better for him to be a Brazilian who knows the characteristics of the Brazilian game.